Briton Andrew Murray held his nerve, as well as his stomach, to beat tough Romanian Andrei Pavel in five sets. The 18-year-old qualifier tasted a set back after three games in the final set as he was taken ill on court, but recovered well to win 6-3 3-6 3-6 6-1 6-4 against an ultimately irate Pavel.

The Romanian lost his focus after the interuption and following a (rightly) overuled line call, he let fly with a volley of abuse directed towards the umpire. For his troubles he received a point penalty, and with the outburst, the match was destined to spiral out of the Romanian's control.

Murray explained after the match the reason for his sickenss - a sodium drink.

"It's supposed to stop you from cramping. I was a little bit tired at the start of the set. I started to drink it. And always when I take it, I start to feel a little bit sick," he said.

"And there I took too much. I felt like I was going to burp, and then threw up. It was pretty funny."

Murray, an unlikely Flushing Meadows crowd favourite, was spurred on by the vocal support and he went on to take the final, and rather epic, set 6-4. In doing so he keeps dwindling British hopes alive at the US Open.